


25 Metres Away

by midnightstreet



Category: Schitt's Creek (TV) RPF
Genre: Feels, Fuck COVID, Multi, Polyamory (implied), Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:08:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25525675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightstreet/pseuds/midnightstreet
Summary: Noah and Clare sneak away from their wedding guests to do something important.
Relationships: Dan Levy/Noah Reid/Clare Stone
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	25 Metres Away

**Author's Note:**

> Noah and Clare got married today, and it was wonderful. I'm so incredibly happy for them. But the fact that Dan wasn't there got me all up in my poly feels.
> 
> This may or may not have been written while the author was drunk. Lower expectations, all ye who enter here!
> 
> Big thank you to yourbuttervoicedbeau for the quick 'n dirty beta.
> 
> .
> 
> Kindly read the pairing and tags; if they're not your cup of tea, move along.

They’ve only gone a few metres before Clare regrets her lack of shoes, out here on the bumpy ground. She’s grateful that her veil was cast aside at the earliest possible opportunity; the delicate tulle would have been destroyed by the branches they’re moving amongst. As it is, she worries for her dress, scrunching it up tighter in the fist bouncing just above her knees. Noah leads the way, and she trusts that he’s taking them - somehow - down a safe path. 

A minute or so later he comes to a stop, Clare turning a crash into his back into a cuddle, an arm sweeping smoothly around his middle. The phone’s flashlight turned off, he holds it up to his ear. She knows there’s no chance of WiFi out here, so a voice call will have to do. Even that’s no sure thing, so she crosses her fingers.

“Hello?” Noah queries, “Can...can you hear me? Oh, thank god,” Noah breathes out, moving the phone down and hitting the speaker button before a warm voice pours out into the night. 

“Well hey there, Mr. and Mrs. Reid. How does it feel?” Dan greets them. 

Noah chuckles, and she can’t see his blush but can see how high his cheeks have gone up, pleased and relieved and giddy from the beautiful combination of joy and alcohol.

“Daniel! We’re married! I have a wife. And she’s _really_ hot!” Noah giggles. Clare stares down at the screen over Noah’s shoulder, trying to imagine Dan’s face gone soft with tiredness (it’s nearly 2am, she’s informed by the phone) and affection.

“Is Clare there? Clare?”

“Hey Dan! We’re married!” is all Clare can get out, despite being (she suspects) far less inebriated than her new...oh god, her new _husband_. Holy fuck. “We miss you,” Clare whispers, pressing herself fully to Noah’s back and laying her head on his shoulder, comforting him even though he’s expressed no sadness. Yet. 

She feels it within herself, and she knows him well enough to know that Noah feels the same. 

There’s an odd noise over the line, then a pregnant pause, during which Clare struggles to find better words - any words - to express the totality of what she feels in this moment. She finally gives her brain a rest, settles on,

“We love you. We love you so much.”

Another silence follows, and Noah’s shoulders tense. Clare is glad she can’t really see his face right now, that it’s so dark that she can barely see his profile in the light of the dimmed phone display: a wave of sadness washes over her, mourning the many losses they’ve suffered despite being healthy and alive after all that’s happened.

It feels selfish. 

She doesn’t give a fuck. 

Her tears spill down over Noah’s jacket, put back on despite the champagne splashed over the right arm, because the evening chill is a more pressing concern. 

After what feels like an hour, a whisper comes back at them. 

“I love you too.”

And fuck, now Noah’s crying too; she can feel it in the shake of his shoulders as she rests her cheek against him. Dan is probably crying right along with him, knowing Dan. Fuck, this wasn’t the plan when she and Noah had snuck away from the party in the dark. Looking back over her shoulder, she can make out the warm light of the tent, hear the music and the voices of their friends and family. 

The ones who had been able to make it. 

Clare hears Dan make the beginnings of what Noah calls ‘The Noise,’ but he reins himself in. 

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there,” he starts, “I’m sorry I let you down.”

Noah makes to object, jostling Clare off his shoulder as he unthinkingly brings the phone up to his ear. 

“You didn’t. You _didn’t_. You’re right where you need to be. You don’t...you don’t need to be with us to be _with us_.”

Clare wipes at her eyes, moving in front of Noah with the phone between them, representing their missing piece.

God, her heart aches. 

Clare lays her hand over Noah’s outstretched wrist and gives a little squeeze before she speaks.

“Dan. The wedding was amazing. We wish you could have been here, but we know why you couldn’t. And you’re close enough now. Just get your ass down here Tuesday; the wedding won’t end until we get you back with us,” Clare informs him with as much resolve as she can muster. 

(She’s not resolved; she doesn’t fucking know anything.)

Dan sniffles a bit, then clears his throat. 

“Yeah. Yes. Go back to your guests. I’ll see you soon enough. Just don’t have too much fun without me.”

She can hear that he’s trying to make a joke of it, can picture him doing the suggestive David Rose shoulder shimmy. But he doesn’t fool her; he’s hurting. 

They all are. 

Finally Clare plucks the phone from Noah’s too-tight grip, bringing her other hand up to his damp cheek. She stares into what little of his eyes she can see, illuminated by the sliver of moonlight through the trees. 

“There is no ‘us’ without you,” she whispers, eyes on Noah, words meant for all of them, “Remember that.”

Clare ends the call without waiting for Dan’s response. She turns decisively around, fumbles the phone’s flashlight back on, and follows its glow back toward their friends, Noah’s hand held firmly in hers.  



End file.
